Using poker as analogy for leadership, Captain
Andrew Harvey, CPD (ret.), Ed.D. and Lieutenant Raymond E. Foster, LAPD (ret.),
MPA found the right mix of practical experience and academic credentials to
write a definitive book for leaders. Working together, Harvey and Foster have
written Leadership: Texas Hold em Style.
Most often leaders find they are given a set of resources people, equipment,
funds, experience and a mission. As Foster noted, "You're dealt a certain hand.
How you play that hand as a leader determines your success."

More than a
book: A fun and entertaining journey
through leadership that includes an interactive website to supplement
knowledge gained from the book.

Proven and
Tested: Not an academic approach to
leadership, but rather a road-tested guide that has been developed through
50-years of author experience.

High Impact: Through
the use of perspective, reflection, and knowledge, provides information that
turns leadership potential into leadership practice.

Ease of
Application: Theory
is reinforced with real-life experience, which results in accessible and
practical tools leaders can put to use
immediately.

High Road
Approach: Personal character and ethical
beliefs are woven into each leadership approach, so leaders do the right thing for the right reasons.

Uses Game of
Poker:
Rather than a dry approach that is all fact and no flavor, the game of poker
is used as a lens through which to view leadership concepts.

Delivering Value for Leaders

Editor’s Note:
Richard Botkin is a former USMC Major.

By Richard Botkin

March 24, 2010 - Andrew Harvey and
Raymond Foster have crafted an exceptionally outstanding learning resource--it is far more than a 'book' if the reader accesses
all that is available through their generous and dynamic leadership website--for leaders of every experience level. "Leadership
Texas Hold'em Style" is a great read for the young leader starting out with its wealth of ideas and thought-provoking
real-world situations. For the very same reason the book has as much or more significance for seasoned folks in positions
of responsibility who simply need to continue to improve their level of expertise and excellence.

August 28, 2008 (Alburquerque, NM)
David Schmidly became the 20th president of the University of New Mexico in 2007. It is his third university presidency. When
Schmidly came to the campus to meet with students he told them he planned to teach as part of his duties. He is an internationally
respected researcher who has written 9 natural history and conservation books about mammals and more than 200 scientific articles.
This fall Schimidly is teaching a seminar course on leadership at the Anderson School of Management.

There
are 53 students enrolled in the course, which will use as a text Leadership: Texas Hold ‘Em Style
by Dr. Andrew J. Harvey and Raymond E. Foster. In this lecture, Schmidly talks about how he became a leader.

April 12, 2008 (San
Dimas, CA) Leadership: Texas Hold ‘em Style was a finalist for the
Eric Hoffer Book Award. According to the Executive Editor of Writers Notes & Best New Writing, Christopher Klim, “While
it did not win a category distinction this year, it fell within the top 10% of entrants to be considered for prizes. With
respect to the competition, we consider this an honor of its own merit. Less than 50 books each year are dubbed with the title
of “Eric Hoffer Award Finalist.”

The modern world has become a place of
constant change and transformation. In this environment, success depends on how well organizations recognize and adapt to
change. Management theorist Tom Peters put it very well when he said that the most successful organizations in the future
will be the ones that "thrive on chaos."(1) Those that cannot identify and act on emerging issues are doomed to, at least,
inefficiency and ineffectiveness and, at most, disaster and possibly even destruction.

What does this trend mean to law
enforcement? With its traditional, paramilitary structure, law enforcement has proven slow to adapt to change. While traditional
methods have brought success in the past, relying on these techniques in the future may be dangerous.

To achieve success in the next century,
law enforcement agencies must recognize and welcome emerging trends. Part of this means changing the way they operate, from
their organizational structures to their management of human resources.

This article discusses the strategies that
law enforcement agencies need to implement in order to build an organizational foundation for the future.

Perhaps Jimmy Buffet had it right; ones attitudes will change with ones perspective. Leadership in public safety agencies,
particularly police agencies, is at a critical crossroads. Early retirement incentives have enticed experienced personnel
to leave their departments in mass numbers, creating a shortage of experienced supervisors. In addition, there has been a graying of the department with the majority of the existing leaders in the Baby
Boomer generation (those born between 1943 and 1960) all reaching retirement age at or about the same time.A third contributing factor in the leadership crisis is budgetary constraints as a result of less government
funding and under-funded pensions, resulting in fewer dollars for training.The
exodus of experienced supervisors has created a unique challenge for law enforcement agencies to fill openings quickly, while
continuing to manage the daily operations (both administrative and tactical).Unfortunately,
little has been done to develop the next generational pool of candidates in terms of succession management or career development;
many agencies have taken a laissez-faire approach to this growing crisis in public safety.Without effective oversight from supervisors, police agencies leave themselves vulnerable to liability and lawsuits.

Leadership in your home, work or some
community activity includes preparing your followers for difficult times and situations.Having ready access to critical information can make the difference between your organization’s success or failure.A tool to assist leaders in self, organization and follower preparedness has been
developed as a web-based primer.

It’s your first day in your assignment.Perhaps you are a newly appointed
leader, or you have been transferred into a new assignment.How do you establish
leadership?How do you get things moving in the right direction?You have the positional authority, the stripes or bars or whatever symbol of leadership. The position is
only one type of leadership power and for the most part the weakest.

As you study your craft, leadership, you will find that there are several types of leader power.Many people have a difficult time with the word “power;” It can carry negative connotations.Recall our first article and think of our definition of leadership – “The
art of influencing human behavior toward organizational goals.”In the
leader realm, power is the amount and type of influence the leader possesses.First,
let’s define four of the power bases you can work from as a new leader and then we will explore how to combine them
into a plan to “jump start” your leadership.

This series of articles is about small unit leadership.Not leadership
in a wider organization sense, but leadership down in the weeds.We will be looking
at the kind of leadership necessary for employees involved in highly complex problem-solving tasks (tactical situations to
interpersonal communication skills).The primary focus is for those leaders practicing
their trade with street cops, small vice or narcotic units, or tactical teams.

Our first step will be to work out a definition of leadership.As we progress
through this series of articles we will explore how leadership skills can be gained, honed and applied.

Nearly every promotional interview panel asks some type of leadership questions.Indeed, they often simply ask the interviewee to define leadership.Ask
someone.They will probably work backwards and use the words lead and leader
to define leadership.But, a working definition of the word is critical before
we can apply the concepts to small units.

Karl Von Clausewitz, a Prussian military general and military theorist, identified morale as a fundamental military
principle.Since Clausewitz published “On War” morale has developed
into a concept seen as critical to organizations, including law enforcement.Unfortunately,
morale is difficult to define and in many circles has become somewhat synonymous with motivation.In this article we will look at a very different definition of morale, its potential effects and how the
first line supervisor can affect it.

Often times, people consider morale the same as motivation. But, morale
is not about motivation.If it were, negative discipline could improve morale.
There are times negative discipline is used to improve performance.Negative
consequences can be a powerful tool in shaping behavior.So, if morale were about
behavior or performance, negative discipline might be a tool for improving morale.

That is not to say that improved morale does not improve performance; it does.The point is that there is a clear separation between morale and motivation.High morale can be very motivating.High motivation can improve performance.There is a linkage between morale and motivation but they are not he same.

No matter whether you want to play poker for a little bit
of fun or even to try and make a career out of actively playing poker on-line,
you must have confidence within the online poker room to take care of and hand
over your winnings, offer you advice to your concern quickly as well as
responsively, and additionally provide a good gaming experience in general.
Overall the betting marketplace today has really advanced and by eliminating
many of the obstacles people face when playing traditional poker, such as
travelling times and distances. All that you need to play online is a stable
connection to the internet and some start up cash to get you on your way in the
gambling world. You can do all of this from the comfort of your own home,
whenever you want! Other than poker, sportsbetting, bingo and casino games can
also be played online. There are a number of sites where you can play all four
from the same account see www.bestcasinoscanada.com for a selection.